Method and system for authorizing access to goods and/or services at a point of sale and corresponding point of sale

ABSTRACT

A system and method for authorizing access to goods and/or services at a point of sale is disclosed. An access voucher may be issued and presented to a reading means of the point of sale. At least one good and/or service of the point of sale can be selected by the user and the corresponding identification can be transferred to the internal processing unit. A comparison can be performed. If the transferred identification of the user matches an identification of the user, and if the transferred identification of the goods and/services matches an identification of the goods/and services, the user profile data and the access parameter can be retrieved. An authorization can be transferred to the point of sale if the user profile data correspond to the access parameter for the goods and/or services.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and a system for authorisingaccess to goods and/or services at a point of sale, in which the accessto goods and/or services is authorised based on an access voucher. Inaddition, the present invention also relates to a corresponding point ofsale.

BACKGROUND ART

Everybody accesses goods and services on a daily basis. By way ofexample only, each time we take a cup of coffee, we access goods (i.e. acup filled with coffee) and a service (i.e. the preparation of coffee).Generally, the access to these different goods and/or services needs tobe controlled such that only authorised users can effectively accessthem.

In the last decades, automated points of sale (in particular the socalled vending machines) have been used more and more frequently allover the world. These vending machines are generally devices which areable of dispensing different goods or services (e.g. coffee, sandwiches,tobacco products, consumer products of all kinds, newspapers, etc.) inan automated way. To this end, such vending machines generally comprisemore or less sophisticated machinery that can store these items anddispense them in an appropriate way when they have been selected by auser.

Generally, in order to obtain access to goods and/or services from sucha vending machine, the user is required to insert coins or paper moneyinto them. More sophisticated vending machines accept credit or debitcards, or some kind of tokens issued specially for this purpose. Evenmore sophisticated machines also allow accessing goods and/or servicesusing an electronic wallet, for example rechargeable chips and/or mobilephones (or other similar devices).

However, all current methods for acquiring goods and/or services at avending machine have some drawbacks. More specifically, “classic”vending machines require personnel for emptying the repository forbanknotes, coins or tokens. In case the vending machine is configured towork also with credit or debit cards, chips, badges or other similarelectronic payment means, the vending machine must comprise a readingmeans for reading the data from these supports and for identifying theuser identity and/or his (or her) credit prior to allowing access to therequired goods and/or services. However, such an identification processrequires a sophisticated processing unit at the vending machine itselfand a possibility to access the identification databases in a secure waywhich makes the vending machines both costly and vulnerable to attacksfrom non-authorised users. For example, if a user pays goods and/orservices using the credit card, the vending machine needs to read outall data required by the credit card issuing company in order toauthorise the purchase, including also the security parameters such asPIN codes, passwords, and similar. Thus, if this data is obtained by anon-authorised user, they can be used in a fraudulent way.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of this invention to propose a new and improvedmethod and a new and improved system for authorising access to goodsand/or services at a point of sale which do not present theabove-mentioned inconveniences and disadvantages of the prior art.Moreover, an object of this invention is also to propose a new andimproved corresponding point of sale.

More specifically, an object of this invention is to propose a new andimproved method, a new and improved system and a new and improvedcorresponding point of sale which allow for authorising access to goodsand/or services in a way which guarantees both an enhanced security anda lower costs for the points of sale.

According to the present invention, these and other objectives areachieved in particular through the features of the independent claims.In addition, further advantageous embodiments follow from the dependentclaims and the description.

More particularly, this object is achieved through the present inventionby a method for authorising access to goods and/or services at a pointof sale, in which access to goods and/or services is authorised based onan identification of the user, in which an access voucher, comprising atleast an identification of the user is issued by a voucher issuingmeans, the access voucher is presented to a reading means of the pointof sale, at least the identification of the user being read andtransferred by the reading means to an internal processing unit of thepoint of sale, at least one good and/or service of the point of sale isselected by the user and the corresponding identification is transferredto the internal processing unit, the identification of the user and theidentification of goods and/or services is transferred by the internalprocessing unit to a centralised processing unit which compares thetransferred identification of the user with the at least one storedidentification of the user and the transferred identification of thegoods and/or services with the at least one stored identification ofgoods and/or services, and in which, if the transferred identificationof the user matches an identification of the user stored in thecentralised processing unit and if the transferred identification of thegoods and/services matches an identification of the goods/and servicesstored in the centralised processing unit, the centralised processingunit retrieves user profile data and the access parameter for the goodsand/or services, and an authorisation for accessing the selected goodsand/or services is transferred to the point of sale by the centralisedprocessing unit if the user profile data correspond to the accessparameter for the goods and/or services.

The advantage of the present invention resides primarily in the factthat access to goods and/or services at a point of sale can beauthorised only if the identification of the user is verified by acentralised processing unit, together with the information about theselected goods and/or services which is stored exclusively at thecentralised processing unit. In other words, the user profile data andthe access parameter of the selected goods and/or services need to bematched by the centralised processing unit in order to have the accessto these goods and/or services at the point of sale authorised. Thus,the present invention makes it possible to limit the complexity and thecosts of the points of sale.

In an embodiment variant, the access voucher comprises opticalmachine-readable data, in particular a barcode and/or a matrix code. Anykind of known machine-readable data storage means can generally be used;however, use of two-dimensional matrix codes and in particular use ofso-called QR (“Quick Response”) codes presents important advantages withrespect to other possible technologies. Thus, this embodiment variant ofthe invention has the advantage, among other things, that the reading ofthe access voucher by the reading means of the point of sale and thetransferring of the data comprised in the access voucher to theprocessing unit of the point of sale can be performed using a simple andwell established technology.

In another embodiment variant, the machine-readable data of the accessvoucher are arranged on a disposable support, in particular on paper.The advantage of this embodiment variant is, among other things, thatthe access voucher can be, if required, realised as a completelydisposable object and intended for one single use. If paper is used,virtually any kind of paper support can be used as the data carrier ofthe access voucher (e.g. a simple paper slip, such as a purchase receiptwhich is generally issued after a purchase transaction). Since theapplication of paper is more or less unlimited, this embodiment variantof the method for authorising access to goods and/or services allows fora very large range of use.

In a further embodiment variant, the data between the point of sale andthe centralised processing unit are transmitted over a wired and/orwireless link, in particular over a data communication protocol. In thisway, standardised communication protocols can be used, which allows foran even less complex and costly point of sale.

In another embodiment variant, the user profile data comprises theinformation about the current state of the personal credit account. Morespecifically, this personal credit account of the user can be managed bythe centralised processing unit itself or by a separate entity such as abank, a credit card institute or any similar authority. Also, thispersonal credit account of the user can be a general account, used alsofor other purposed, or a dedicated user credit account, used exclusivelyfor purchasing goods and/or services at the point of sale.

In a further embodiment variant, the access parameters for the goodsand/or services comprise the purchase price of the goods and/orservices. In this way, the point of sale can be administered in acentralised way, and all price changes can be very quickly implementedon every point of sale.

In still another embodiment variant, the identification of the userand/or the identification of the goods and/or services transmitted tothe centralised processing unit are encrypted, and the centralisedprocessing unit comprises a decryption means for decrypting encrypteddata. The advantage of this embodiment variant, inter alia, lies in thefact that the data sent by the point of sale cannot be read andinterpreted by unauthorised persons. In particular, the encrypting ofthe data can therefore be used to prevent an unauthorised generation ofaccess vouchers (i.e. the creation of access vouchers that would beinterpreted as genuine vouchers by the point of sale, but which have notbeen issued by an authorised issuing authority).

At this point, it should be stated that, besides the method forauthorising access to goods and/or services at a point of sale accordingto the above-identified embodiments of the invention, the presentinvention also relates to a corresponding system and a correspondingpoint of sale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will be explained in more detail, by way ofexample, with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a point of sale according to one aspect ofthe present invention and which can particularly be used in connectionwith the method or the system for authorising access to goods and/orservices according to another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a system for authorising access to goodsand/or services according to one embodiment variant of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block view of the processing unit of the systemaccording to one embodiment variant of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates in a schematic way one embodiment of a point of sale10 according to one aspect of the present invention and which canparticularly be used in connection with the method and the system forauthorising access to goods and/or services according to the presentinvention.

The point of sale 10 is preferably an automated point of sale, such as avending machine. At this point, we would like to emphasize that thepresent invention is not limited to this kind of point of sale, and itis possible to implement the embodiments of the invention at any otherkind of point of sale if the corresponding requirements are similar oridentical.

The point of sale 10 stores goods 11 and services 12. In FIG. 1, bothgoods 11 and services 12 have been represented using some very schematicforms, but a person skilled in the art will easily understand that boththe goods 11 and services 12 can be of any other form or nature, andtherefore the represented forms do not have to be interpreted in alimiting way. Of course, it is also possible to think of points of salewhich do not directly store any goods or services but are exclusivelyused for authorising access to those goods and/or services (e.g. aturnstile used to control the access to a premise).

In FIG. 1, the point of sale 10 comprises a display means 15 and a dataentry means (e.g. a keyboard) 17 which are used for interaction betweena user and the point of sale 10. In particular, the display means 15generally can display the purchase price of goods 11 and/or services 12or indicate any other information to the user. The data entry means 17can be used for selecting the goods 11 and/or services 12 but also foraccessing any other information available. Of course, a person skilledin the art will easily understand that any other point of sale 10,including those without the described display means 15 and/or data entrymeans 17 or those with more sophisticated additional means, can be usedwithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

When a user wishes to be authorised to access particular goods 11 and/orservices 12 at the point of sale 10, he/she can generally use aclassical authorisation method (e.g. he/she can use coins to pay thepurchase price), but can also use the method according to the presentinvention.

In particular, the point of sale 10 also comprises a reading means 16,which can be used to read the information of an access voucher AV(represented in FIG. 2). To this end, the access voucher AV can bephysically presented to the reading means 16, which can read the datastored therein. Alternatively, the access voucher AV can also be storedon a device 20 (also represented in FIG. 2) in an electronic way suchthat the device 20 can transmit the access voucher AV (and/or thecorresponding electronic data) to the reading means 16 of the point ofsale 10 over an appropriate communication interface, without presentingthe access voucher AV to the reading means 16 in a physical manner (thedevice 20 can for instance be an RFID chip or a smart-phone which cantransmit the data of the access voucher AV to the reading means 16 usinga wireless data connection such as Bluetooth or ZigBee).

In any case, the access vouchers AV which are used for authorisingaccess to goods and/or services in the sense of the present inventioncomprise some machine-readable data which can be read by the readingmeans 16. The access vouchers AV can in particular comprise data whichcan be read optically, for example one-dimensional barcodes and/ortwo-dimensional matrix codes. To this end, the access vouchers AV can beplaced on a physical support (e.g. paper 21 in FIG. 2) or be completelyvirtual (e.g. on a smart-phone 20 in FIG. 2). An optical code which issuitable for the present invention is a so-called QR code. QR codesconsist of black modules, represented by square dots, arranged in asquare pattern on a white background. The information encoded by a QRcode can be made up of any kind of data, in particular alphanumericdata. Of course, any other kind of codes can also be used. On the otherhand, the access voucher AV can also be implemented by any kind ofnon-optically readable data, such as data stored in a RFID tag oranother similar device, as already mentioned above. However, the opticalcodes are preferred since they offer a bigger flexibility with lowercosts.

The reading means 16, after the data of the access voucher AV has beenread, can transmit this data to an internal processing unit 18 of thepoint of sale 10 (illustrated schematically in FIG. 1) for furtherprocessing.

The particularity of the system and the method according to the presentinvention reside in the fact that the data transmitted to the processingunit 18 of the point of sale 10 are not treated at the point of sale 10but are transmitted to a centralised processing unit 30 of the systemwhich is located remotely from the point of sale 10. FIG. 2 shows aschematic overview of the system according to an embodiment variant ofthe present invention.

In FIG. 2, the point of sale 10 as described above is represented on theleft hand side together with two access vouchers AV, i.e. a first accessvoucher AV on a physical support 21 (e.g. a piece of paper) and a secondaccess voucher AV on an electronic device 20 (e.g. a smart-phone). Inaddition to this, the system according to this embodiment variant of thepresent invention also comprises the centralised processing unit 30 andtwo control terminals 40 and 50 whose function will be described furtherdown.

Generally, once the date of the access voucher AV have been read by thereading means 16 and transmitted to the processing unit 18 of the pointof sale 10, this data is sent to the centralised processing unit 30 overa link L2. In general, the link L2 can be implemented in any knownmanner, for example using a wired or a wireless data transmissioninterface. To this end, the point of sale 10 comprises a correspondinginterface represented schematically as an antenna 19 (cf. FIG. 1) on thetop of the point of sale 10. Of course, this schematical representationdoes not imply that this communication interface is necessarilyimplemented in a wireless way and that the point of sale 10 needs tohave a visible communication antenna.

Together with the data received from the access voucher AV, the internalprocessing unit 18 of the point of sale 10 also transmits the datarelating to the goods and/or services of the point of sale 10 selectedby the user. This data can be implemented as a simple identificationnumber or code. Of course, any other way of implementing the datarelating to the goods and/or services is possible. In other words, theinternal processing unit 18 of the point of sale 10 performs only theaction of gathering together the data received from the reading means 16and coming from the access voucher AV and the data relating to the goodsand/or services selected by the user and transmitting these data forfurther processing to the centralised processing unit 30.

The specificity of the present invention resides in the fact that apoint of sale 10 does not have any detailed information about the goodsand/or services 11, 12, for example prices. Instead, the point of sale10 only stores an identification of each good 11 or service 12 which isthen used for retrieving the corresponding information from thecentralised processing unit 30.

FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of the centralised processing unit 30in a simplified schematic way. The data which are sent from the internalprocessing unit 18 of the point of sale 10 are transmitted to thecentralised processing unit 30 through the data link L2. These data canbe of various natures and can also have various purposes and areprepared by a voucher issuing means 22 (described more in detail lateron) at the time an access voucher AV is issued.

Generally, an access voucher AV will comprise at least an identificationof the user. This identification can be an alphanumerical code but alsoanother data that can be used to identify the user in an unambiguousway. Also, the access voucher AV can also comprise an identification ofgoods and/or services and/or an identification of a point of sale 10.Further, an access voucher AV can also comprise an identification of theaccess voucher AV itself and also a time identification. Of course, anyother data can also be included in an access voucher AV. It is importantto mention at this point that an access voucher AV can be issued onlyonce for one particular user (e.g. it can correspond to a kind ofgeneral identification of the user) or issued many times for each user,in function of the goods and/or services requested. In the first case, ahard support for the access voucher AV (e.g. the smart-phone or a chipcard) it is preferable while in the latter case, a non-permanent support(e.g. paper) is much more appropriate.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the centralised processing unit 30 cancomprise various databases, namely the database 301 which stores atleast one data set 31 relating to the identification of users and thedatabase 302 which stores at least one data set 32 relating to the goodsand/or services. A third database 303 which stores at least one data set33 relating to the access points 10 can also be provided. Of course, allcited databases can be implemented in a single physical database device.

When the centralised processing unit 30 receives data from the internalprocessing unit 18 of the point of sale 10, the data received comprisein general an identification of the user (transferred to the point ofsale 10 from the access voucher AV) and at least one identification ofgoods and/or services selected by the user. After receiving the data,the centralised processing unit 30 compares the transferredidentification of the user with the data stored in the database 301 ofthe processing unit 30. In other words, the centralised processing unit30 verifies whether the identification of the user which was receivedfrom the access voucher AV matches any of the data sets 31 which arestored in the database 301. If this is the case, the user is positivelyidentified by the system.

In a next step, the centralised processing unit 30 compares the datarelating to the goods and/or services received from the point of sale 10with the data sets 32 relating to the goods and/or services stored inthe database 302 trying to match these data. Once the corresponding dataset 32 has been identified in the database 302, the information relatingto the goods and/or services selected by the user (e.g. the price) isretrieved from the database. These data can either be stored in the samedatabase 302 together with the various identifications of goods and/orservices or in a separate database (not represented). Once these datahave been retrieved, they can be sent back to the point of sale 10, e.g.in order to be displayed by the display means 15 of the point of sale10.

In a next step, the centralised processing unit 30 verifies if the user(identified in the previous step) is authorised to access the goodsand/or services requested. To this end, the centralised processing unit30 compares e.g. the minimal age required for accessing the goodsand/services (in case of tobacco products or alcohol) or the amount ofmoney on the personal account of the user. The access to goods and/orservices 11, 12 of the point of sale 10 is then authorised if the useridentified in the previous step matches the predefined requirements forthe access to the goods and/or services selected by him (or her). Tothis end, the centralised processing unit 30 sends the correspondingauthorisation data over the link L2 to the point of sale 10 whichreleases the corresponding goods/and or services 11, 12. Since the pointof sale 10 does not have any information about the goods and/or services11, 12, the authorisation information sent from the centralisedprocessing unit 30 is required in order to have the transactioncompleted. On the other hand, a non-authorised user, trying to getinformation about the goods and/or services 11, 12 from the point ofsale 10 and/or to manipulate the point of sale 10 (e.g. by using falseinformation) will not be able to gain access to the goods or/services11, 12.

The centralised processing unit 30 can comprise a time module 304 whichcan be used for a further verification of the user and/or of the goodsand/or services. For example, access to certain goods and/or servicescan be restricted during certain hours (e.g. alcohol cannot be sold inthe night). Also, the data transferred to the centralised processingunit 30 from the point of sale 10 can be encrypted using any suitableencrypting means. In this case, the centralised processing unit 30comprises a decryption means 305 for decrypting this encrypted databefore they can be compared with data which are stored data in thedatabases 301, 302, 3030.

The access voucher issuing means 22 are also schematically representedin FIG. 2. Basically, the access voucher issuing means 22 can comprise aprocessing unit 24 which can prepare the access voucher AV based on thepredetermined information. Depending on the kind of access voucher AV,the access voucher AV is either printed on a physical support 21 by theprinter 26 or generated in an electronic way and transmitted to a device20 by means of the module 25 over the appropriate link L3. A database 23can be used in the process of issuing the access vouchers AV. Once theaccess voucher AV has been issued, the corresponding information withall relevant data is transmitted to the centralised processing unit 30via the link L1. Of course, it would also be possible to imagine asolution in which the issuance of access vouchers AV is performed by thecentralised processing unit 30 and that all necessary data is simplytransmitted to the decentralised access voucher issuance means 22 overthe link L1.

Furthermore, the system according to an embodiment variant of thepresent invention can comprise a control terminal 40 which can beconnected to the centralised processing unit 30 by means of a data linkL6 and a control terminal 50 which can be connected to the centralisedprocessing unit 30 by means of a data link L7.

The control terminal 40 can be used by a user of the system in order toconnect to the centralised processing unit 30 and, for example, verifythe current status of his or her credit account. Also, the user can usethe terminal 40 in order to modify the profile data and/or to charge ordischarge his or her credit account. To this end, any known method canbe used. Also, the control terminal 40 can be either asoftware-implemented object accessible through a web browser of asimilar program, a dedicated application (including an app for asmart-phone, tablet computer or similar) or even a dedicated hardwareterminal (e.g. in a form of a cash dispenser or similar).

On the other hand, the control terminal 50 can be used by anadministrator of the system and/or by the proprietor of the point ofsale 10 in order to connect to the centralised processing unit 30 and,for example, verify the current stock of the goods and/or services atthe point of sale 10 or administer the point of sale 10 (e.g. bychanging the prices of goods and/or services 11, 12). As with thecontrol terminal 40, the control terminal 50 can also be asoftware-implemented object accessible through a web browser of asimilar program, a dedicated application (including an app for asmart-phone, tablet computer or similar) or even a dedicated hardwareterminal.

As already mentioned above, the advantage of the present method over allprior art solutions is the fact that the point of sale 10 can be keptvery simple and therefore less costly than comparable points of sale 10.In particular, the whole processing of the request for access to goodsand/or services 11, 12 and administering of the point of sale 10 can beoutsourced to the centralised processing unit 30 which allows for asimple and secure implementation of the point of sale 10.

Although the disclosure of the present invention has been described withreference to particular means, materials and embodiments, one skilled inthe art can easily ascertain from the foregoing description theessential characteristics of the present disclosure, while variouschanges and modifications may be made to adapt the various uses andcharacteristics as set forth in the following claims.

1. A method for authorizing access to goods and/or services at a pointof sale, in which access to goods and/or services is authorized based onan identification of the user, wherein an access voucher, comprising atleast an identification of the user is issued by a voucher issuingmeans, the access voucher is presented to a reading means of the pointof sale, at least the identification of the user being read andtransferred by the reading means to an internal processing unit of thepoint of sale, at least one good and/or service of the point of sale isselected by the user and the corresponding identification is transferredto the internal processing unit, the identification of the user and theidentification of goods and/or services is transferred by the internalprocessing unit to a centralised processing unit which compares thetransferred identification of the user with the at least one storedidentification of the user and the transferred identification of thegoods and/or services with the at least one stored identification ofgoods and/or services, if the transferred identification of the usermatches an identification of the user stored in the centralisedprocessing unit and if the transferred identification of the goodsand/services matches an identification of the goods/and services storedin the centralised processing unit, the centralised processing unitretrieves user profile data and the access parameter for the goodsand/or services, and an authorization for accessing the selected goodsand/or services is transferred to the point of sale by the centralisedprocessing unit if the user profile data correspond to the accessparameter for the goods and/or services.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the access voucher comprises optical machine-readabledata, in particular a barcode and/or a matrix code.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the machine-readable data of the accessvoucher are arranged on a disposable support, in particular on paper. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein the data between the point ofsale and the centralised processing unit are transmitted over a wiredand/or wireless link, in particular over a data communication protocol.5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user profile datacomprises the information about the current state of the personal creditaccount.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the accessparameters for the goods and/or services comprise the purchase price ofthe goods and/or services.
 7. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe identification of the user and/or the identification of the goodsand/or services transmitted to the centralised processing unit areencrypted, and that the centralised processing unit comprises adecryption means for decrypting encrypted data.
 8. A system forauthorizing access to goods and/or services at a point of sale, in whichaccess to goods and/or services is authorized based on an identificationof a user, comprising an access voucher issuing means for issuing accessvouchers comprising at least an identification of the user, a readingmeans of the point of sale for reading and transferring at least theidentification of the user to an internal processing unit of the pointof sale when the access voucher is presented to the reading means, ameans for selecting at least one good and/or service of the point ofsale by the user and transferring the corresponding identification ofthe selected goods and/or services to the internal processing unit, acentralised processing unit comprising a database with at least onestored identification of the user and a database with at least onestored identification of goods and/or services, the centralisedprocessing unit comprising means for comparing the transferredidentification of the user with the at least one stored identificationof the user and the transferred identification of the goods and/orservices with the at least one stored identification of goods and/orservices, wherein, if the transferred identification of the user matchesan identification of the user stored in the centralised processing unitand if the transferred identification of the goods and/services matchesan identification of the goods/and services stored in the centralisedprocessing unit, user profile data and the access parameter for thegoods and/or services are retrieved, and that the centralised processingunit comprises means for transferring an authorization for accessing theselected goods and/or services to the point of sale if the user profiledata correspond to the access parameter for the goods and/or services.9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the access voucher comprisesoptical machine-readable data, in particular a barcode and/or a matrixcode.
 10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the machine-readabledata of the access voucher are arranged on a disposable support, inparticular on paper.
 11. The system according to claim 8, wherein thedata between the point of sale and the centralised processing unit aretransmitted over a wired and/or wireless link, in particular over a datacommunication protocol.
 12. The system according to claim 8, wherein theuser profile data comprises the information about the current state ofthe personal credit account.
 13. The system according to claim 8,wherein the access parameters for the goods and/or services comprise thepurchase price of the goods and/or services.
 14. The system according toclaim 8, wherein the centralised processing unit comprises a decryptionmeans for decrypting encrypted data.
 15. A point of sale of goods and/orservices in which access to goods and/or services is authorized based onan identification of a user, comprising a reading means for reading andtransferring at least the identification of the user to an internalprocessing unit when the access voucher is presented to the readingmeans, a means for selecting at least one good and/or service by theuser and transferring the corresponding identification of the selectedgoods and/or services to the internal processing unit, a means fortransferring identification of the user and the identification of thegoods and/or services to a centralised processing unit, and means forreceiving an authorization for accessing the selected goods and/orservices from the centralised processing unit and for releasing thegoods and/or services selected by the user.